You heard it here first, Sakurai has lost his mind. All the work he is doing for ultimate must be stressing him out... let's review what he showcased in the last direct...

He slaughtered most of the roster with lasers things from space...

...and he gave us a man-eating potted plant as a new character. o_0

Not that I'm complaining! I'm looking forward to the upcoming game.

Anyway, we're getting to the juicy part of the story. Not that I have that much of a plan in advance, when I write, I just figure things out on the way, that's my writing style. However, I always have a general theme or idea, and we haven't even touched on that yet. But trust me, it's good.

however, It's getting harder and harder to think of vine quotes, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. In fact, I thought I could post a story on a Wednesday just so I could exploit the "Its Wednesday my dudes! AAAAAAAAUUUUEEEEHGHGFRBGKAQWEGBAABGBIEBGARBAERG^^%&^$%E" line, but that would be a cheap shot. Sorry I've been posting more infrequently, I promise I'll get back to being more frequent, but it would help if I could get some more reviews. I need feedback to motivate me! Please don't make me beg!

Okay, without further ado, please enjoy...

Aran: Chapter 7

I take it back.

I wasn't enjoying this fight at all. After I took off, I lost track of the direction that I had been walking in the first place. I couldn't see my surroundings except for the ground underneath. Normally, I would have tried to mark the spot and direction so I could find my way again. but it would have been pointless, as it was simply unlikely that I could've found the same spot again anyway. That's how foggy it was. Regardless, I knew I needed to find Snake again. This was pretty typical behavior for him. He would always play pranks on us last season. But I think dropping tacos filled with bombs on us is a bit extreme. Authentic Mexican cuisine and weapons of destruction should NOT go together, just sayin'.

I slowed my pace and listened. I didn't bother using my sensors, something was preventing my scanner from working correctly. No doubt Snake had brought a new piece of tech along to make sure of that. However, I dialed up my audio sensors, and listened hard. I could just barely make out the sound of footsteps. I stopped in my tracks, and the sound stopped. Then I took off on the fastest jog I could manage with my injury, which wasn't very fast. The footsteps began again, seeming to mirror my movement judging from how it sounded. He could see me somehow. Probably within sixty feet. I could see less than forty in any direction. I had to figure out where he was. I turned ninety degrees to my left, and the footsteps seemed to be getting softer for a little bit. Okay, he's not that direction... I turned one hundred eighty degrees, and the footsteps got louder for just a moment. Snake was trying to keep a constant distance between me and him. I tried adjusting my direction A few more times, making a few calculations with my suits built-in computer. Then I continued walking for another ten seconds.

ten...

nine...

eight...

seven...

six...

five...

four...

three...

Two...

one- I raised my cannon arm and fired a small spread of five shots, covering a fifteen degree slice of the exact angle I guessed he was at.

My audio sensors picked up a grunt of pain. This was my chance, if Snake really had hacked the system, he was my ticket out of here. I jogged forward, ignoring the pain in my stomach, which had just started to dull down a bit, to get to him in time. But he was still faster. I actually saw him for a split second, grasping his shoulder, before he ran out of my field of view. I started firing again, but I think I missed. Half a minute later, I heard a voice:

"Not bad, Samus. But now it's my turn." Came a confident taunt from deeper into the fog. What I heard next made my heart skip a beat.

clink it was the sound of Snake pulling the pin on a grenade.

I backtracked a bit to put as much distance between me and snake as possible. One second later a small black object landed only about twenty feet from me.

I had three seconds...

3...

I turned in the opposite direction

2...

I again forced myself to jog a little

1...

I quickly lowered myself to the ground, covering my head and turning down my audio sensors...

Nothing...?

I got painfully back to my feet, and began to walk back in the direction I think I was just a moment ago, but I tried not to get too close in case the object he threw was a kind of explosive that has a longer delay or is remotely activated. I kept walking for a bit, and once I was at a distance from the approximate spot I remembered the object landing at was, I turned my audio sensors back up. I heard nothing. Apparently he threw a dud or something just so he could get away. That's Snake's general game plan. He prefers to fight when he has an advantage, and always deploys stealth tactics. I decided to try scanning again to see if I could find a way out. My scans gave me no clue of snakes location, but instead came up with the same results as earlier, some energy reading close by, back in the direction of where I had first encountered Snake. My scanner indicated the direction I was to go. I hesitated, still worrying about the object Snake threw towards me earlier, but I had no choice. There was nowhere else to go, and my energy levels were still going down, even more so because of the damage to my suit.

Surprisingly, when I arrived, I saw what I had been hoping for. A portal had appeared, along with a message, written in glowing 3D letters floating above the portal. It read:

"Smash Manor has been compromised, please take this portal, the others are waiting. Snake was responsible for the attack. -MH"

Looks like MH knew Snake was behind this also. I was getting sick of this place so I stepped into the portal immediately...

the teleportation process was even worse than last time. At first my eyesight went blurry, and all I could see were colors, and images and shapes I didn't recognize. My stomach felt queasy and I had a hard time breathing for a few seconds, then my eyesight cleared. It looked like I was staring at multiple images of a glaring yellow reptilian eye. A cold, dead feeling made my skin crawl.

"You... you took everything from me. My home... my parents..."

"Oh... but I took more than you think I did... maybe I should remind you, Samus." Came a taunting voice from my innermost subconscious mind.

"No, don't take me back there!" but there wasn't much I could do. The never-forgotten image of a burning city on a faraway planet came into focus. My surroundings seemed enlarged, and
I felt closer to the ground. I came to the realization that I was in a burning building. The heat stung my skin, and my eyes watered from the smoke. Behind me, an inferno enveloped the room I was to escape. Only a small pocket of space wasn't alight, which miraculously included a window. Feeling my life was in danger all over again, I unlatched and opened the window. I was on the first floor, so it was safe to exit. Immediately, I felt relief as fresh air filled my lungs. I lost my balance and fell the rest of the way out of the window, landing on my back, facing upwards. The flames hadn't reached the second floor yet, there was hope. Even at that time, I still understood that he was in danger, and I needed to get help. I began to shout, but nobody could hear. The sound of the fire, and building collapsing in the distance overwhelmed my tiny voice. In fact, I heard another sound, a flapping of large wings, behind me. What kind of bird could be big enough to make that sort of sound?

Hey guys sorry I haven't posted in a while. School has kept me busy, but I might have some extra time. Expect at least chapter or two before the 14th, and lots more around Christmas time, I have three weeks off. Make sure to leave a review, and give me ideas for future stories. Favorite and follow if you are enjoying it so far, it will only get better from here on out.